In a network evolution process of a Long Term Evolution (LTE for short) or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-advanced, LTE-A for short) system of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP for short), evolution from a homogeneous network to a heterogeneous network is presented. In the homogeneous network, high-power eNodeBs with a large coverage area form continuous coverage according to a cellular network shape. In the heterogeneous network, more micro eNodeB nodes are added in network coverage of an eNodeB (macro eNodeB) to further improve a network coverage capacity. In the heterogeneous network, although the network coverage capacity of the eNodeB can be improved by adding the micro eNodeB nodes, how to resolve data backhaul of numerous micro eNodeBs becomes one of critical problems that need to be resolved in the heterogeneous network.
The LTE standard supports a relay technology. A network mainly includes a donor node, a relay node (RN for short), and user equipment (UE for short). One end of the RN connects to the donor eNodeB, and the other end connects to the UE. The donor eNodeB is a common eNodeB that already connects to a core network. The RN is a station that can provide a wireless access service for the UE, and connects to the donor eNodeB by using a Un interface, thereby implementing data backhaul. However, the connection between the RN and the donor eNodeB is generally fixed and supports only a single-hop connection.
In a wireless mesh network (Wireless Mesh Network, WMN for short) technology in the 802.11s, as shown in FIG. 1, a station STA, an access point (AP for short), and a mesh point (MP for short) are included. The STA is equivalent to the UE in the LTE network, and the MP may form a mesh network with a neighboring MP. Because the wireless mesh network in FIG. 1 works in a distributed form and lacks a node for optimizing and managing the network, relatively poor network backhaul performance is caused.